Green Bay Packers: UDFA James Vaughters could make team

By Ryan Ratty | May 21, 2015

Despite his production at one of the best collegiate programs in the nation, James Vaughters went undrafted. The Green Bay Packers will be rewarded because of that.

Each year, the Green Bay Packers seem to excel at finding late-round gems and solid undrafted free agents. While he didn’t do much in his first season, Adrian Hubbard was the darling of the undrafted free agency period for the Packers last year. Hubbard came from a big program in Alabama. In college, he was one of the most productive players in the nation and he was one of the main reasons why the Crimson Tide’s defense was so unstoppable.

More from Green Bay Packers

This undrafted free agency period, the gem for the Packers is no other than James Vaughters. Out of Stanford, it’s extremely surprising that Vaughters was passed up on every pick in the draft. While he is undersized at 6-foot-2, 255 pounds, and he really is more of a power player rather a finesse player, Vaughters was productive for the Cardinal’s defense over the past four years.

In his freshman year, Vaughters was a partial contributor. He worked his way into the starting rotation towards the end of the season. From there, he became the full-time starter at outside linebacker. While he did total just 124 tackles in his four-year career, Vaughters was a versatile player for the Cardinal, making plays against both the run and pass.

While Dom Capers runs a 3-4 defensive scheme, he does involve some interesting looks upfront. That’s where a wild-card type of player like Vaughters can come in handy. With elite short speed, terrific instincts, and a tough demeanor, even though Vaughters might be small in stature, he plays with a huge heart, which is a trait many Stanford products seem to enter the league with.

There are a bundle of problems with Vaughters however and they fall outside of his size. He struggles at turning his hips in the passing game, which is a trait known by scouts as being stiff. A lot of the time, Vaughters guesses and goes through a hole, only to find himself completely away from the ball-carrier at the end of the play. In Lance Zierlein’s scouting report on Vaughters, a Pac-12 regional scout had this to say about Vaughters:

"“Go watch his tape and check how many of his sacks have come when he is unblocked or because he was around the play long enough to get a sack. He’s strong, but that’s about it.”"

At Stanford’s Pro Day, Vaughters excelled in drills he participated in with shorts, but he struggled in the football drills. What that means is he opened eyes with his vertical leap and his bench reps, but he had problems covering tight ends and running down ball-carriers.

Nevertheless, the Packers don’t need Vaughters to be a four-down player and given how they don’t really have a ton of starting talent on their roster at the linebacker positions, there’s a higher chance Vaughters makes the roster than being left off it. There’s a ton of work that still needs to be done with Vaughters, as he’s still a project, but there are some traits that the Packers could use to their advantage.

Next: Packers: Jake Ryan a great fit at ILB

More from NFL Spin Zone

Home/Green Bay Packers